essay
Ethics
Main character syndrome
Why romanticising your own life is philosophically dubious, setting up toxic narratives and an inability to truly love
Anna Gotlib
video
Food and drink
Local tensions simmer amid a potato salad contest at the Czech-Polish border
14 minutes
video
Technology and the self
A filmmaker finds a tactile beauty in the creation of her prosthetic leg
11 minutes
video
Technology and the self
How the magic of photography brought Victorian England closer to the spirit realm
16 minutes
essay
Technology and the self
Tomorrow people
For the entire 20th century, it had felt like telepathy was just around the corner. Why is that especially true now?
Roger Luckhurst
video
Technology and the self
In the town once named Asbestos, locals ponder the voids industry left in its wake
16 minutes
video
Sex and sexuality
After a sextortion scam, Eugene conducts an unblushing survey of masturbation
14 minutes
video
Technology and the self
A deepfake porn victim confronts the pain of having her likeness stolen and vandalised
19 minutes
essay
Consciousness and altered states
A reader’s guide to microdosing
How to use small doses of psychedelics to lift your mood, enhance your focus, and fire your creativity
Tunde Aideyan
video
Work
Does capitalism make ‘non-playable characters’ of us all? An uncanny exploration
21 minutes
video
Technology and the self
A ‘virtual outing’ on Google Maps reveals a treasured image from Diego’s past
6 minutes
video
Technology and the self
An artist swaps her head with everyday objects in a musing on consumerism
4 minutes
essay
Subcultures
Of memes and magick
Bending a mysterious world to your will was the goal of esoteric practices. Now it’s the unashamed aim of the tech titans
Tara Isabella Burton
video
Computing and artificial intelligence
Struggling to learn how to do a backflip, Nikita takes on an unusual training regimen
12 minutes
essay
Film and visual culture
The truth of photographs
It’s often said that a successful picture ‘captures the essence’ of a subject. But a great photograph does so much more
Daniel Star
video
Technology and the self
Why we should worry less about ‘sentient’ AIs and more about what we’re teaching them
16 minutes
video
Technology and the self
Greetings from Green Bank – the small town where modern technology is banned
10 minutes
video
History of technology
The long-awaited arrival of TV to Shetland sparks debate in this vintage clip
9 minutes
video
Politics and government
‘Without a poster, you don’t exist!’ – on the curious political banners of Mumbai
20 minutes
essay
History of technology
We’ve always been distracted
Worried that technology is ‘breaking your brain’? Fears about attention spans and focus are as old as writing itself
Joe Stadolnik
video
The future
What’s the healthiest way to handle a creeping feeling that the world is ending?
15 minutes
video
Social psychology
Social contagions can cause genuine illness, and TikTok may be a superspreader
10 minutes
video
Technology and the self
One woman prepares for the risky solitude of Georgia O’Keeffe’s American West
8 minutes
video
Work
Catch those idle moments of connection between coworkers on a smoke break
10 minutes